The invention relates to the utilization of pipeline slurry, and more particularly to the drying of coal slurry preparatory to firing in a vapor generator.
Where a coal fired power plant is located at a distance from a coal mine, the coal can be economically conveyed from the mine to the plant as a slurry in a hydraulic pipeline. The present invention arose from a consideration of means by which the coal that has been delivered in a slurry through the pipeline can be brought to the condition required for burning in the power plant vapor generators. It is an object of the invention to provide the means whereby coal can be conveyed directly from the coal mine to the power plant, dried, and ground to the range of fineness appropriate for combustion, and burned in the power plant vapor generators, without incurring the capital cost and running expense of dewatering equipment.